Taking Off With Pan Am

I am in a mixed bag about the forthcoming ABC series Pan Am. It is no secret that I am an airline nut, and basically the only reason why I want to watch this is to see how well ABC have recreated the golden era of flying especially with Pan Am.

Pan Am is credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry, which we take for granted today. Identified by its blue globe logo and the use of the word "Clipper" in aircraft names and call signs, the airline was a cultural icon of the 20th century and the unofficial flag carrier of the United States.

To the travelling public Pan Am always represented a way of travel that has long since been forgotten. An era when the journey was anticipated as much as the destination. With Pan Am, "getting there" always meant unmatched civility pooled with the pinnacle of cool.

Nothing epitomised this experience more than the Pan Am bag. When Pan Am introduced the world to the jet age, the Pan Am bag was seen as more than just a carry on; it was a proudly carried symbol that represented a once in a lifetime experience.

Everyone from Presidents to rock stars were proud to be seen with their Pan Am bags.

A couple of years ago Marc Jacobs released limited editions of these bags, which luckily I have one of.

Now a plethora of bags and accessories are available on the market for our jet-setting fashionista, who wishes to recapture the golden age of flying. The company producing these objects state “It is our objective to utilize Pan Am's colorful history to bring back the original Jet-Setter values and restore civility, adventure and fun to the travel experience”

Although you cannot fly Pan Am the airline is a hot commodity once again. Let’s hope that the TV series as well will bring back some of these values as well, that airlines can sit up and take notice.

Can I Blog on This?

For many of our youth mention the word typewriter, and they probably would not have any idea of what you are talking about, let alone having actually seen one. In today’s world of technology the word typewriter seems almost obsolete. In its place we have PCs, Macs, notebooks, and tablets. All these can be highly mobile devices so that we can remain connected and even blog no matter where we are.

Before these items became the norm if we wanted to express ourselves while on the move, paper and pen came out and we actually wrote down our ideas.

When it came to the manufacture of typewriters nobody did it better than the Italians and especially Olivetti. Vintage and antique typewriters have become quite the craze over the past few years and Olivetti is right in the thick of it, especially the stylish Valentine! This typewriter made history in 1969 as soon as it came off the assembly line.

Designed by Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King, this small, lightweight and bright red typewriter quickly developed into a cult object with its own dedicated following. For the fashionably hip this was the ultimate accessory (like today’s ipads). It was a design statement more than an office machine.

Sottsass designed the Valentine to be an "anti-machine machine," for use "anyplace but an office. Advertising put the machine at the beach, airplane cockpits, in the ski fields, anywhere but the office.

Undoubtedly one of the great design classics, the Valentine expresses the mood of its time: goodbye to the bulky cast-iron housings of old typewriters, hello to the new mobility of a light, modern, plastic casing made from ABS.

It was the unique and sleek design combined with clever advertisement of the Valentine that brought Olivetti to new heights. Aimed primarily at the youth market, with psychedelic advertisements this was no ordinary typewriter.

Here’s what its designer Ettore Sottass said about it:

“The Valentine was designed to keep lonely poets company on weekends in the country.”

In comparison here is what the makers of the Blackberry Playbook said recently about their product.

“We remain excited and committed to delivering innovative and powerful 4G tablets to the U.S. market together with our carrier partners,” the company said. “Testing of BlackBerry 4G PlayBook models is already underway and we plan to enter labs for network certifications in the U.S. and other international markets this fall.”

Enough said!

North by Northwest With Savoir Faire!

Who can forget the classic scene in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest of Cary Grant being ran down by a biplane in a dusty field?

This is an enduring scene which comes to symbolise Hitchcock at his best.

The scene itself will never date, however here are few more different interpretations of the scene all filled with savoir faire!

My thoughts are if you are going to be chased down, do it with Savoir Faire!

Waiting for the Bus

I am not sure how many of you will remember the old scroll type destination signs that used to inform of patient commuters of a buss’ destination? Or am I showing my age?

Fabric route signs used on busses in England from the 1920s through to the 1970s are a new decorating buzz. Bus stop locations used to be printed on rolls of calico fabric, and the drivers cranked the rolls to the appropriate stops by hand.

I can remember them on buses in Sydney right through to the early 80s, until electronic destination signs took over.

Now these old rolls are being turned into an amazing array of decorating uses. I am always a big fan of recycling and taking a completely utilitarian item and elevating it too another use including as an art form.

So let these inspire you to look around you to see something which could be put to another use other than what it was intended for.

Do You Pay Full Price?

I have always made it a point of when shopping never to pay full price for anything. I wouldn’t class myself as cheap, just economical. It is almost a given that what you see at full price today, will at some stage be put on sale in the future. So, you have to take a gamble that your size is available, however the rewards can be worth it.

I like the clothes of Andrew Buckler however they are a bit pricey. So I wait for the sale and voila,I picked up the below sweater in a combination cashmere and cotton reduced from $235 to $95!



Of course that is not me in the photo, so I hope I do the sweater justice!

Leave Your Mark This Summer

One of my favourite scents to wear during summer is a long forgotten treasure that was once categorised as one of the top 5 classic scents of all time. Also it had the distinction of being composed by one of the great perfumers of the twentieth century, Jean Carles, who was tragically anosmic (unable to smell anything). Sort of like Beethoven composing symphonies while being deaf.

The scent “Ma Griffe” by Carven, which is a sparkling green concoction full of such wonderful things as gardenia, greens, galbanum, citrus, clary sage, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, vetiver, orris, ylang ylang, styrax, oakmoss, cinnamon, musk, and labdanum. For me it smells likes like freshly mown grass with a hint of fruitiness, which is why I love it!

Mademoiselle Carven defined her fragrant prototype as "an outdoor perfume that needs to give up its heady character", resembling her, hence the name and the packaging: "white for innocence, youth, and freshness; green because to me it's the most beautiful colour in the world". The green and white striped box was a brilliant graphic concept, that went on to do double duty as the packaging for a myriad of Carven perfumes.

On its launch in 1946 a startlingly different advertising campaign was devised: parachuting the Trocadero in Paris with thousands of sample bottles! What a fabulous sight of thousands of little tiny green and white boxes on little parachutes this must have been! Just on the heels of the end of World War II this was a sign that Paris was getting back to its frivolous best.

Ma Griffe has two translations, one being “my signature” and the other being “my claw”. For me the translations are perfect, as it is a signature, an indelible mark, which carries more meaning when worn by a man.

Alas over time and changes of fortunes the scent on the shelves today, pales to insignificance when compared to the original however it is still a gem amongst all the hideously smelling perfumes being launched today.

Originally Ma Griffe was marketed as a young scent at a time when the youth segment had not been catered for. Ironically one of the most common complaints now, is it smells old. Myself, I ascribe that only to changed perceptions and vogues.

Fringe Benefits and Purple Reign at Dior

Now I am not talking the perks of the job or Prince here, but the purple reign of fringes happening at Dior. From necklaces to handbags, the most amazing fringes appeared this season.

The hues and shades of these purples and oranges are so rich and exotic.

These would have to be the coolest, brightest elements of hippy chic we have seen for a long time!